Noah Baldwin Sutherland
and Margaret Jane Colley

Noah Baldwin Sutherland b 4 Feb 1841 d 7 Mar 1934; buried Noah B Sutherland Cemetery, no location given; s/o James Sutherland and Nancy Ann Counts. Noah Baldwin Sutherland m. 8 Oct 1863 VA to Margaret Jane Colley b 1 Feb 1846 d 1 Nov 1936 (or 7 Mar 1934) buried Noah B Sutherland Cemetery, no location given; d/o James Colley and Emma Ferrill. Children of Noah Baldwin Sutherland and Margaret Jane Colley;

I. Elizabeth Sutherland b 19 JAN 1865 Buchanan Co VA

II. Phoebe R. Sutherland b 20 OCT 1866 Buchanan Co VA

III. Emeline "Eme" Sutherland b 21 SEP 1868 Buchanan Co VA

IV. James D. H. Sutherland b 21 AUG 1870

V. Richard Daniel Boone Sutherland b 3 SEP 1872

VI. Morgan Caudle Sutherland b 20 MAR 1874 Buchanan Co VA

VII. Noah Deel "Cougar" Sutherland b 4 APR 1876 Rock Lick, Buchanan Co VA

VIII. Ida Jane Sutherland b 25 DEC 1877

IX. Nancy Violet Sutherland b 6 MAY 1880

X. William Patton "Bruce" Sutherland b 23 FEB 1882

XI. Margaret Ella Sutherland b 4 JAN 1884

XII. Corra F. Sutherland b 20 OCT 1885

Noah Baldwin Sutherland
(Feb. 4, 1841 to March 7, 1934)

By Lois Sutherland Wark

E. J. Sutherland described his older cousin, Noah B. Sutherland, as one of the best conversationalists and story-tellers he'd ever met. We are all the poorer for never having heard him talk, but thanks to E. J., some of Noah's stories of his time in the Confederate Army have been preserved. E. J. visited with Noah at least 10 times to talk about his family history and experiences during the War Between the States, interviews that were later published in the book Pioneer Recollections.

Noah Baldwin Sutherland was born February 4, 1841, the second child of James Sutherland (son of Daniel) and Nancy Ann Counts Sutherland, who were to have 10 more children. Their first son, he was named for Noah C. Baldwin, one of the elders of the Primitive Baptist Church.

A year or two before Noah's birth, the family had moved from the relatively settled bottom lands along Clinch River in Russell County, Virginia, north across the mountains to a wilderness on Frying Pan Creek, where their nearest neighbor was a mile away. When her time came due, Nancy went back across the mountains to her parents, John "Jackie" Counts and Phoebe McReynolds Counts. Her son was born on Clinch River about a mile below Cleveland, Va., at his grandparents' home.

As Noah told the story, "My sister, Phoebe, was the oldest of our family. I was about two years younger than she was. My parents moved to Frying Pan a short time after her birth and built a log cabin at the mouth of Bent Branch. When I was born, my mother had gone back to her parents on Clinch. My parents lived at the mouth of Bent Branch [of Frying Pan Creek] until five or six children were born. Then they moved down to where William Sutherland now lives [1927]. My brother Dan was just big enough to carry the shovel down there."

Noah first volunteered in the Southern army at Sand Lick in 1862 for three months, under Arch Peery of Tazewell County. He was 21. "The next day we met at Prater and then went on to Grundy. From there we went to Shade Ratliff's at Richlands the second night. The next day we went on to Jeffersonville [Tazewell Courthouse], where we stayed awhile and drilled and got homesick. Mr. Peery tried to get equipment and arms for us but failed because our enlistment period was too short. So he told us we could choose either to go home or volunteer for a longer period. Most of us went home, on foot."

It was early summer, Noah recalled. "We got our first mess of green beans that year at the hotel at Grundy." There was a lot of horseplay and hijinks as they headed homeward. After all, these were husky young farm boys, off on a lark.

At this point, most Southerners were confident of winning the war. In addition to the Confederate army, Virginia had organized home defense units, like the one these boys had joined. In March of 1863, the State Line companies that had been organized for defense inside Virginia were reorganized as regular units. The two companies of Russell County men were merged into the 21st Virginia Cavalry of six companies from Southwest Virginia.

"Later on that year - in the fall - Uncle Zeke Counts made up his company at Sand Lick, where I again enlisted," Noah told E. J. in 1925. "I believe it was Company B. We were serving in the State Line organization under General John B. Floyd. Captain Counts [Ezekiel K. Counts, his mother's brother] made up a company in Sand Lick and Cleveland. I joined at Sand Lick sometime in 1862."

Thirty or forty others joined there at the same time, he said. Among them: his brother Ezekiel, his cousin Jasper Sutherland, and his uncle William "Billy" Sutherland (E. J.'s grandfather), all in Company B, 2nd Virginia State Line Regiment. "Noah Counts (of Josh) was made first lieutenant. Bill Lockhart was made second lieutenant. Uncle Bill Sutherland was made orderly sergeant. Joe Harris was our lieutenant colonel."

Captain Counts' company was mounted on horses, he said, and after drilling at Sand Lick, they went to Tazewell Courthouse (Jeffersonville). After staying there a few days, they were ordered to Wyoming County, West Virginia. "From there we went to Logan Courthouse, where we stayed for some time. Cols. Peters and Hounshell joined us at Logan Courthouse.

"General Floyd sent us to protect his salt works at Warfield, Kentucky. We found on our trip that the women in that section sympathized with both sides. Colonel Hounshell commanded the Second Regiment, which was mostly made up of Irishmen. They were all mounted on good horses and they took great delight in caring for their horses . . .

"When we got to Warfield, we didn't see many men but some women fired guns at us from the windows. Some were hollering for Jeff Davis and some for Abe Lincoln . . .

"There were about 300 Yankees at Warfield when we got there, and we had a little fight with them. During the fight, Colonel Peters rode up on a fine horse and he had on a new hat. When the Yankees fired on us, the horse tried to run away and Colonel Peters lost his hat. During the fight, Colonel Peters received a wound in a leg by a spent minnie ball. . . Noah Ball was shot through the breast, but is still living on the head of Russell Fork. Major Martin Ball was a large man and had a fine voice and you could hear him give his commands a long distance. Everybody liked him. Colonel Joe Harris was rough and disagreeable. Colonel Peters was quiet and kind. We captured several Yankee horses at this place . . ."

"This was the only skirmish I was in during the war. Captain Cox was shot through the shoulder during the fight and one Yankee was killed. The Yankees took to the hills and Colonel Peters ordered his regiment to hide in an ambush all night, but the Yankees stayed in the hills and woods and they fired on us again next morning. The Irish [the Second Regiment, made up mostly of Irishmen] had two or three small cannon and with these they shot grapeshot into the woods where the Yankees were. The grapeshot trimmed up the trees considerably. Then Captain Ball and Captain Counts tried to surround the Yankees, but they got away."

After Union General Stephen Burbridge's defeat at Saltville, part of his forces retreated to Kentucky by way of Levisa (Louisa) River. "The Confederate Rangers in Buchanan County, Virginia, knowing the country well, separated into small bands and ambushed the fleeing Yankees at every opportunity. I was present in Captain Zeke Counts company during these maneuvers," Noah said.

"When the Union forces had almost reached the Kentucky line, Captain Counts and Private Elijah L. Rasnick, of Company E, 21st Virginia Cavalry, were surprised by a Yankee flank patrol, and Rasnick was captured. Captain Counts escaped by hiding in the lap of a fallen tree. Rasnick was taken to the main body of the Federals, where he was pumped for information. Upon his refusal to give his comrades away, he was told that, upon the next Southern shot from the hills, he would be instantly shot.

"The threat was hardly uttered when bang! bang! bang! went some squirrel rifles in the neighboring bushes. Rasnick did not wait for further action, but sprang from his captors, plunged down the steep river bank, swam the river, and ran through an old field. All the while, the entire Union force was firing at him, but he made his escape without a scratch."

Noah's cousin, Jasper Sutherland, who also lived on Frying Pan and had joined Zeke Counts' company, gave this account:

"About sixty of us went to Levisa River below Grundy, at Rock Lick and waited for them to come back. We lay by the road one night and cut trees across the road to block the Yankees. We didn't have any provisions with us, so next morning we strung out in the neighborhood to get some breakfast. Then Major Zeke, William Grizzle, Mack Owens and I went to see the blockade. The Yanks were there in full force. We darted back into the woods but they saw us and followed and nearly surrounded us. We went further into the wooded hills and got away.

"Major Zeke, Bart Yates, and I went up the river and saw more Yankees. They got after us again and we had to run and scatter. Lige Rasnake was in my company. It was awful hot and we had run and scrambled over the rough hills so much that we were tired out. William Grizzle suggested that we hide for awhile but I said, 'no.' Major Zeke came up just then and said the Yanks had caught Lige Rasnake and maybe had killed him.

"We got down closer to the road and hid behind some big rocks and saw about 4,000 Yanks go by. Some of them were Negroes; a Company or two of them. We fired at them and they fired back at us. The bullets flew awful thick and glanced off the rocks and made the dirt fly all around us. . . We heard the Yankee officer say, 'Go up that hollow and surround them.' We saw a big Company coming, so we scattered up the hill and went down the other side to the bend of the river again. Here we saw them with Lige Rasnake, a prisoner. Major Zeke and some of us fired on them again, and they fired back. This drew the attention of the Yankees, and Lige jumped over the river bank and down a slip fifty yards or more to the river. He jumped in and swam across and got away. The Yankees didn't shoot at him until he got nearly to the river. None of our men were hurt."

Noah said that Colonel Peters, although wounded, "stuck right with us all the time. Then we came back to Logan and after a little while we came to Tazewell again. Then we were in New Garden awhile and I remember it snowed there the 4th Saturday in October. The chestnuts were ripe. I think this was in the fall of 1862. Then we went back to Logan, then back home."

After the State Line was reorganized, he said, "I volunteered again, but was left at home as community blacksmith. Captain Counts still commanded the Company. The company went to Eastern Tennessee for several months, but I did not go with it. I had a four months furlough and while on furlough, I married Jane Colley. Before my furlough was over, the war closed. I was just a private during the war. I didn't see Colonel Peters after that. Bill Lockhart was killed by the enemy during the tour of Tennessee, and Dave Robertson (of Captain Counts' Company) was accidentally killed also on that tour. These men were all that were killed in my company during the war."

Noah and Jane were married October 1, 1863. "In the following March," Noah told E. J., "we moved to where we live [now]. It was out in the woods, away from the road and we weren't bothered by foraging soldiers," some of whom were conducting their own private war of bushwhacking and burning the farms of neighbors who had remained loyal to the Union.

One of those Unionists was Noah's grandfather, Dan. Some of the Kisers on Dumps Creek were Union, too. "After the war," Noah said, "the Union men of Clinch and Dumps Creek got up a big dinner or barbecue. Everybody in the community went to this dinner. Charles Kiser said to Grandpa Dan'l, 'Let's make some horse shoe nails for the 'Sesash' to pick their teeth with.' Uncle Jessee and Lige Sutherland were Grandpa Dan'l's sons, but they were strong rebels. Andy Kiser (of Jim) got too much [to drink] and was raising a considerable rumpus. Li Sutherland tried to keep the peace. Andy was Union and kept on insulting the rebels so much that Mose Wolf, who had served in my company, thrashed Andy. Then Li Sutherland whipped him, too.

"About that time, Grandpa Dan'l put up a Union flag on a tall poplar pole. His son, Lige, said, "Pa, what did you put that pole up for? 'Why, we've whipped you, and I thought we would just tantalize you some.' Uncle Lige took his axe and whacked it down. Grandpa never said a word. He saw he had hurt his feelings."

Reconstruction was hard on everyone, and in the mountains it was difficult to make a living, even for a blacksmith. When the Virginia government finally got around to offering pensions to its old soldiers, Noah applied. His application, filed in the Clerk's Office of the Circuit Court of Dickenson County, Va., on March 23, 1925, resulted in a pension of $35 a year for the rest of his life.

After the war, most of the Old Rebels stayed on their farms and tended their flocks, Theodosia Barrett wrote in her fine little book, Russell County: A Confederate Breadbasket. "The highlight of their activities was the annual Fourth of July reunion in Lebanon for a number of years after the war. People from all over the county congregated and cheered the Old Rebels. Dressed in Confederate uniforms, they marched and paraded to their familiar war-time music of the fife and drum."

Each year the numbers became fewer. "At the July 4, 1933, meeting only four of the 1,450 original Russell County servicemen were in attendance." Noah Sutherland was not among them. He was one of six local veterans who did not attend. The Old Rebel's time was running out.

Nine months after that Fourth of July salute, Noah Baldwin Sutherland died of influenza and complications of old age. He had lived 93 years, 1 month and 3 days when he breathed his last on March 7, 1934. No doctor attended. Jane, who survived another two years and who collected a widow's pension of $10 a month, died on November 1, 1936 - the year I was born.

And the links continue. We here today all are descendants and kinfolk of this pioneer couple. Each year, as we return to Virginia from homes all over this country, we come to this mountaintop cemetery to honor those who came before.

In the words of the Prophet Isaiah: "And a branch shall grow out of his roots."